Category Archives: toys

I have had a little girl here wanting a “road play mat” for her toys as her brother has 2 already made by me so here is her road play mat….

And here it is in action…
yes that is Salvanian family teddy bears, my little petshop toys, My little pony toys, and Polly pocket etc on it. cool aye

And I currently have a little man with Chicken Pox so he has to be entertained for this week of sickness so I made him a square ball. As when you make one thing for one child you usually have to make something for the other child too….

and here is the shape I used to make it with. I cut out 4. Maybe you could sew 3 together and get a different shape ball? lol not sure.

Hi everyone.
I love getting messages from my readers saying that they have done one of my tutorials and show me photos.

This is one of those moments that makes blogging worth every word…..

This is the Email I got from such a reader…..

Hi, Debbie!
I found your website a while ago while searching for dinosaur sewing patterns. I love your ideas for an Apatosaurus! I made one for my daughter today, and she’s enjoying playing with it. I attached a few pictures, one of her holding it and one that was meant to be just the toy, but you can her hand reaching in to get it: she doesn’t want it taken away even for a moment!

I’m Susan and my daughter’s nickname is LJ; we’re from the Seattle area.

I’m going to enter the dinosaur in our Evergreen State Fair. I’ll have to let you know the results later this month!

Thanks again for the pattern.

Thanks so much

I mean what a cutie pie!!!
And so happy to see a pink dino. Its just devine! Look at that awesome patterned fabric used.

The post: Tutorial – Apatosaurus – Dinosaur soft toy is one of my most viewed blog posts to date with 53 views this week and counting…. and 243 views this year alone! It was posted up in Feb 2010 and had a total of 2,194 total views!!!! Wowza!!!

Thank you so much to my wonderful blog readers and to Susan for sending me photos and permission to post up her awesome creation.

Here is my lastest project and the progress that I went through…..
(please note: this post was made over a period of time as I progress through the project.)

26th July
My son has a few of the Cars characters from the movie Cars and Cars 2 so I decided to make him another quilt/car mat in the form of Radiator Springs as in the first movie…. Been thinking about it for a few months on how I was going to go about doing it.

Here is my reference:

So far I have cut out all the pieces of the quilt/mat and layed them out:

28th July
Next is the ironing and sewing the pieces together….

Now hand stitching on details…

Tow Maters place

The Curios.

1 Aug – I’ll be carrying on with some sewing…..

The Cozy Cone Hotel.
And as you have noticed on my blog – my iPad has been a minor distraction at this stage. No worries I am back on track. Next I need to hand stitch Ramones..

8 Aug – finishing off

Luigi’s

Flo’s V8 Cafe

Machanics, Sarge’s surplus Hut and Filmores tent

After that I sandwiched an old woolen picnic mat and a sheet on the back. I machine quilted the edges of the roads only.

I’m sorry that photo is not the best – here is a better one…. (clearly the iPad has a very very bad camera).

I need to put a disclaimer here:
I will not and do not sell these dolls I make – they are purely for my kids and myself only.
I will not and do not give them away.
I will not and do not sell or give away any patterns associated with these dolls I make – so don’t ask.

Right now, with that out of the way here are the dolls…..

First finished was Patch:
Original looks like this
This is my version in cloth.
Of course this little fellow is already well loved by my son.
The eyes are made with Polymer clay, most fabrics are recycled clothing.
Cheeks are sponged on using Stampin Up Regal Rose ink pad.
Hair is hand sewn on felt.

the pirate top black stripes were sewed on and the scull and cross bones where glued on with Helmar Premium Craft Glue (which is white felt and black fabric marker).

The shoes are made with fabric stiffened with iron on fabric stiffener and hand sewed together and used Helmar Premium Craft Glue with Helmar Fray Stoppa to put them together. Socks where made from a white t-shirt from my sons wardrobe… Yeap I raided his wardrobe…. He didn’t need it anyway. ;)

Soles of the shoes are double extra thick fabric stiffener – mainly used for making fabric bags.

Now for the doll for my daughter…..
The original – Bea Spells-A-Lot

This is my version in cloth…..

Yes my daughter absolutely Loves her too!

And the close up on the polymer clay eyes….
again the cheeks sponged on with Stampin Up Regal Rose ink pad but more colour applyed than Patch.

Hand stitched boots – took a total of the full length of Avatar DVD and another 2 hours… ;)

How long did they both take me to make?
From pattern drawing up to fully dressed with face but without shoes 2 dolls took me from about 10am – 11pm at night.
The kids helped me stuff the dolls.

Here are the pets.They took about 2 hours to make (confession: I did run out of steam with the parrot though)

How much did they cost me?
I only had to buy extra thick stiffener, the orange felt, patterned fabric for Bea’s dress and bow. That will make it about $8.50 Everything else I had already bought for other projects (including sewing machine thread/DMC thread) and some fabric was given to me or from recycled clothing etc. Not bad for $8.50 aye?

Now for the smarty pants that read my blog…..
No I will NOT be making my Project Runway outfits for these dolls. Are you crazy? lol
Yes I am going to make another doll for myself. And it will NOT be a direct copy of one of these dolls but the same style and a character from a recent movie. ;)
And YES you will have to wait for that one.

On Monday 5 girls came around for a school holiday crafty session – Doodle dolls, doll making session.
The girls, plus my daughter, all stuffed their own pre-sewn dolls. 6 girls in all.
Then hand sewed them closed themselves.
Then drew on them with felt pens.

Here they are in action…

Then their awesome finished products…

If you are interested in doing one yourself….
I have 3 ready stitched up flat dolls with draw string bags and stuffing for sale.
$10 NZD each plus postage and packaging. (payable via paypal or cash/bank deposit if in New Zealand).

picture shows the ready to stuff dolls and a finished sample. Finished sample is not for sale.

All you need to do is stuff, stitch closed and draw on them with your own permanent pens.

Here are the headbands I made.
They are incredibly easy to make and quick. Made these two in 20min!
They are reversible too so she effectively has 4 headbands!

And now for the Teddy bears. Pattern and instructions found here.
The only requirement for using the Bear pattern is that you use it for personal use or charity. Any creations from it are not to be sold.

Where do I shop?

I believe in supporting local shops first then I go online if I cannot find anything I want. Local shops listed below....
Warehouse Stationery - craft section - Northwood or Northlands shopping centers
The Warehouse - craft section - Northwood or Northlands shopping centers
Lincraft or Spotlight - Lincraft in Bush Inn shopping center - Spotlight in Sydemham the mall there. (The Stand?)
Stampin Up! (party plan stamp/paper/embelishment/stamp pad and tool suppliers.)
Scrap it simple - located in a home in Redwood area also available online - is primarily stocked with Kaiser Craft brand but has cuttle-bug stuff (inks ribbons, papers, stamps, off the page products and more!)
Hands Ashford - located in Papanui, Normans road
Montarga Stamps - located in Ferry Road, Fitzgerald end near an Iron Arts place.
The Art Shed - Ferry Road, corner of Fitzgerald ave - for paints, canvas' etc
Scrapbook and card making supplies - located in a home in Travis County - also available online - stockist of DCWV and Fynmark products and other scrap goodies.
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